Spotting device for freight transfer apparatus



Feb. 18, 1947. H. w. SHONNA RD 2,416,071

SPOTTING DEVICE FOR FREIGHT TRANSFER APPARATUS Original Filed July 2,1940 w 15, dd

d. INVENTOR.

Ham/d WJZJ/ifidfli ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 18, 1947 SPOTTING DEVICE FORFREIGHT TRANSFER APPARATUS Harold W. Shonnard, Montclair, N. J.; ClaraE.

Shonnard, Shonnard, deceased executrix of said 7 Harold W.

Original application July 2, 1940, Serial No.

434,527. Divided and this application November 6, 1942, Serial No.464,757

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a, spotting device for freight transferapparatus. Vehicles arein use which are arranged to transfer loadslaterally from one to another or to or from platforms. The loads arefrequently large container for holding less than car load lots offreight. Such containers are provided usually with skids or with rollerswhich run in channels on the vehicles or platforms. Such channels aresimilarly spaced and the channels on a road vehicle, railroad car orplatform which is to discharge or receive a container must be inalinement with those on an adjacent vehicle, car or platform which is toreceive or discharge the container. Heretofore such alinement has beendifficult and has required more than one operator.

It is the object of this invention to provide means for determining thecorrect alinement between two cooperating vehicles or a vehicle and aplatform preparatory to transferring a load from one to the other. Morespecifically, its object is to provide a simple visual device by meansof which the driver of a highway truck, for example, may readilyposition his vehicle alongside of another vehicle or platform with .thechannels of each in alinement.

I will describe the invention in the following specification and pointout its novel features in appended claims.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of parts of a highway vehicle or truck providedwith a light projecting device and of a part of a railway car having alight target thereon arranged to facilitate positioning the trucklongitudinally in relation to the car;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a part of the highway vehicle shown inFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of a part of the lightprojector on the vehicle; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the railway car shown in Fig. 1. Thisfigure shows the light taret on the car.

In the drawing, I designates the chassis of a highway vehicle. II is aframe mounted on the chassis having thereon transverse channels orguides l2.

2| designates the platform of a railway .car 20. Transverse channels orguides 22 which correspond with the channels l2 on the truck areprovided on the platform 2|.

30 is a container having skids 3| aflixed to its lower surface. Theseskids are adapted to rest on and slide over the channels or guides l2and 22. In the drawings the container is shown on the frame ll of thevehicle.

In the forward part of the highway vehicle is a light projector whichcomprises two electric lamps I3, I4 with suitable reflectors and lensassemblies. I5 is a battery and IS a switch for connecting either ofthelamps in the battery circuit. This device is arranged to projectnarrow beams of light at right angles to the chassis [0. Each lensassembly is provided with a light arrester I! (Fig. 3) which has anopaque vertical line l8 through its center. This line It! produces adarkened line across the projected beam of light. a

A light target 23 is on the railway car (Fig. 4) at substantially thesame elevation as that of the light projector. 24 is a vertical line onthe target 23 in fixed relation to the channels 22. By this arrangementthe driver of the truck can move it until the darkened line in aprojected beam of light registers with the target line 24 on the carwhen the channels l2 on the truck and the channels 22 on the car will bein desired alinement. This application is a division of co-pendingapplication Serial No. 343,527, filed July 2, 1940, allowed August 7,1942.

I intend no limitations other than those imposed by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A relatively stationary structure having a load transfer station anda target remotely spaced longitudinally therefrom, combined with apower. driven movable carrier having a power control station from whichsaid carrier may be moved into parallelism with an edge of said stationand longitudinally in relation thereto, a load transfer station on thecarrier remote from the power control station, and means on the carriernear the power control station spaced-from the load transfer station onthe carrier a distance the same as the distance of the target from theload transfer station on said structure, for projecting a beam of lighttransversely onto said target when said carrier is parallel with an edgeof the load-transferring station on the relatively stationary structure,and the load-transferring stations are in mutual alignment, without theaid of sighting stations.

2. Indicating means for facilitating the registration of correspondinglyspaced parallel transverse load supporting guides on a pair of parallelplatforms, at least one of the platforms being on a power driven movablevehicle, means near the operator's position on said power driven vehicleand remotely spaced longitudinally from 3. Indicating means forfacilitating the regisv tration of correspondingly spaced paralleltransverse load supporting guides on a pairof parallel platforms, atleast one of the platforms being on a poWer driven movable vehicle,means near the operators position on said power driven vehicle andremotely spaced longitudinally from the guides thereon for projecting abeam of light laterally from the Vehicle, means for arresting rays oflight in said beam at the sides of a vertical line, a target on thesecond platform and a vertical line nearthe center of the target spacedthe same distance from the guides on said second platform as the lightprojecting means is spaced from the guides on the power driven vehicleto indicate visually without the aid of sighting the guides where therelative longitudinal 4. positions of the platforms are such as to bringthe respective transverse guides on the two platforms into mutualregistration.

HAROLD W. SHONNARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

l0 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,252,807 Haberle et al Aug.19, 1941 2,127,480 Fitch Aug. 16, 1938 2,292,968 Peters Aug. 11, 1942 151,388,110 Hallock Aug. 16, 1921 1,820,828 Powell Aug, 25, 193-12,285,723 Kerrigan June 9, 1942 1,922,791 Bumpus Aug; 15, 1933 1,801,469Wagner Apr. 21, 1931 2,337,502 Scott et a1; Dec. 21, 1943 2,342,828Armitage et a1 Feb, 29, 1944 679,567 Lowe July 30, 1901 FOREIGN PATENTS25 Number Country Date 560,753 German Oct. 6, 1932

